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| Villa Di Corlo “Rolfshark” Lambrusco dell ’Emilia rosato ’23 Villa Di Corlo “Rolfshark” Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro rosso ’23 Sottoilnoce “Saldama” Vino Rosso Frizzante NV Grasparossa Terrevive “Stiolorosso” Vino Rosso dell ‘Emilia Frizzante NV Cinque Campi Lambrusco dell ‘Emilia NV |
| Certain categories of wine undergo perpetual waves of being and nothingness in which they seem on the verge of becoming a thing, only to then fizzle out. Dry Sherry and dry riesling–both long term darlings of the sommelier set–can be outrageously delicious wines and yet remain under a persistent veil of suspicion, of disrepute, of anxiety that you’re drinking childish wines, or grandma’s wine. For too many folks of a certain age, a sweet, fizzy Riunite on ice was their introduction not only to Lambrusco, but to wine. Here was a wine with an undeniably infantile, regressive vibe to it – yes, it is wine, but it tastes like candy! And who can admit to not, as a child, greedily shoveling one too many candies from the candy bowl into mouth and later regretting it? The stakes are higher when you add in the toxic ethanol found in all wine. Drinking one too many glasses of sweet, cold Lambrusco candy wine might serve as a gentle introduction not only to wine, but also to the wonderful world of the hangover.
Traditionally, Lambrusco wines are dry (or occasionally off dry) yet a resolute cloud of sugary ill repute still hangs with heaviness over the whole thing, at least here in the States. Lambrusco, I fear, may, like Sherry, never reach the mindshare it deserves here, and remain forever caught in a labyrinth of rediscovery and erasure. The problem is that many drinkers have only ever tasted the treacly-sweet machine-made Lambrusco and have never once wrapped their lips around a good, dry, traditionally made wine. And that’s a shame, as I can think of few other wines that can work so well in Los Angeles, particularly in the endless summer. We’re tasting five varied wines this week. All are dry and made from a range of the varied lambrusco grape family—mostly lambrusco sobara (perfume) and lambrusco grasparossa (raspy) as well as small quantities of fellow travelers such as marzemino. One is a pét-nat and referments spontaneously in the bottle during the spring as the cellar warms up. Two are refermented in tank, and two are “rifermato,” a process in which winemakers add a small quantity of reserved grape must from the harvest. |